Prisoner Confesses to Tupac Shakur Shooting From 1994

A New York man in jail for life claims he shot Shakur 17 years ago, via a letter released to a popular rap website Wednesday.

A New York prisoner in jail for life on unrelated charges, Dexter Isaac, has confessed to shooting late rapper Tupac Shakur.

Isaac took the blame Wednesday for the 1994 shooting, which took place before Tupac was wounded in a separate incident in Las Vegas that eventually left the rapper dead, via a letter released to allhiphop.com.

Per that letter, Isaac said he was hired to steal from Shakur by whatever means necessary.

“In 1994, James Rosemond hired me to rob 2Pac Shakur at the Quad Studio,” Isaac said in the letter confession.

“He [Rosemond] gave me $2,500, plus all the jewelry I took, except for one ring, which he wanted for himself. It was the biggest of the two diamond rings that we took. He said he wanted to put the stone in a new setting for his girlfriend at the time, Synthia Ried. I still have as proof the chain that we took that night in the robbery."

The Hollywood Reporter has requested a statement on the alleged confession from Tupac Shakur's mother, Afeni Shakur, via her L.A.-based Amarau Entertainment, but has yet to hear back.

"I want to apologize to his family [Tupac Shakur] and for the mistake I did," Isaac said. "I am trying to clean it up to give [Tupac and Biggie's] mothers some closure."

Seventeen years ago, the rapper was hit multiple times with gunshots at Manhattan's Quad Studios, less than two years before Shakur was gunned down fatally in Las Vegas.

Some believe the 1994 robbery/shooting incident in New York set off a chain of events leading up to a bitter east coast/west coast feud between an insular cast of bi-coastal characters that may have ultimately contributed to the deaths of the Notorious B.I.G. and Shakur.

Both murders remain open cases to this day.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Timesreported earlier this week that a Tupac bio picture is back on track, with Morgan Creek hoping to woo Training Day director Antoine Fuqua back into the Tupac project (which is not in production and has yet to cast lead roles).

Had he lived, Shakur would have been 40 Thursday.

Erykah Badu headlines a birthday concert celebrating the legacy of the slain musician Thursday night in Atlanta (rappers Too $hort, Bun B, and 8 Ball & MJG are also set to perform). Proceeds from the event benefit the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation.